Swift unveils “first ever” cross-border payments tracker
Tracker is a “cornerstone” of its global payments innovation initiative
Corporate treasurers have a moment to treasure as Swift has unveiled its new cross-border payments “Tracker” for real-time tracing.
Swift says Tracker is the “cornerstone” of its global payments innovation (gpi) initiative – which went live in February – with the aim to deliver greater speed, transparency and end to end tracking.
Tracker provides a confirmation notice when the money reaches the recipient’s account. It also enables a “more accurate” reconciliation of payments and invoices, “optimises liquidity with improved cash forecasts and reduces exposure” to FX risks with same-day processing of funds in the beneficiary’s time zone. It is available via an open API, making it compatible with proprietary banking systems.
David Bannister, principal analyst, Ovum (and former editor of Banking Technology), says: “The most common complaint from corporates is the lack of visibility on their payments’ status. With the Tracker capability, Swift gpi tackles that issue and will be a useful tool to help corporate treasurers to execute their core responsibilities.”
Swift states that more than 110 transaction banks have committed to the service, representing over 75% of all Swift cross-border payments. Recent joiners to gpi include: Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Banque Centrale Populaire, BayernLB, China Citic Bank, China Minsheng Banking Corporation, Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Denizbank, Ebury, Industrial Bank, Guangfa Bank, Lek Securities, Ping An Bank, Piraeus Bank, Postal Savings Bank of China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Turkiye Cumhuriyeti Ziraat Bankasi, Westpac Banking Corporation, Yapi Kredi and Zhejiang Rural Credit Cooperative Union.
The service is also compatible with and integrated into domestic payment market infrastructures (MIs) for local clearing and settlement of gpi payments. Swift adds that banks can already exchange gpi payments over its 56 connected MIs as well as other MIs that have established local market practices for their participants that use the gpi service.
